The European Unionin transnational crises: The 2008 Economic Crisis, the 2015 Migration Crisis and the 2020 COVID-19 Crisis

The study analyses the impact of three transnational crises the 2008 Economic Crisis, the 2015 Migration Crisis and the 2020 COVID-19 Crisis, which are three transnational crises that tested the European Union's capacity, coordination, integration, solidarity and democracy areas, on European integration. In this thesis, which analyzes the instituonal response of the Union and the political responses of the member states to these crises, using case study and process tracing methods as qualitative research approaches. Although these crises had structurally similar beginnings, they led to different institutional outcomes. While the 2008 Economic Crisis and 2020 COVID-19 Crisis triggered significant institutional reforms in integration, the 2015 Migration Crisis did not bring a similar change. In this context, this thesis aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the EU's performance in crisis management, to explain the reasons fort he variation in the institutional outcomes of crises, and thus to shed light on the dynamics shaping European integration. In accordance with these objectives, the following questions were posed: How did the 2008 Economic Crisis, the 2015 Migration Crisis and the 2020 COVID-19 Crisis affect European integration? And why did the 2008 Economic Crisis and 2020 COVID-19 Crisis have a progressive function in terms of integration, while the 2015 Migration Crises had a weakening effect on integration? Answering these questions through an analysis from the perspective of Andrew Moravcsik's liberal intergovernmentalism approach, the study finds that certain Dynamics are decisive in the interaction between crises and the level of integration. As a matter of fact, it has been seen that the institutional consequences of crises in European integration are directly related to the nature of the crisis (whether the crisis is experienced in the material or cultural field, its political importance). In addition, it has been concluded that institutional choices for integration are shaped within the framework of parameters such as the costs of the collective solution to the crisis and the costs of national measures, whether the crisis affects the states symmetrically, and the relative powers of the states.